Did you happen to notice this NY Times story that was carried by the Star-Advertiser yesterday (“Fight Harder, Voters Telling Congressmen“).

The theme was pretty simple. According to the story, Americans turning out for public meetings with members of Congress are pushing the ideological divide.

In middle school auditoriums, retirement centers, recital halls and other such venues, angry constituents are deriding their representatives for the spectacle of the past month over the raising of the debt ceiling.

But in many cases, the anger is less about the dissension that brought the nation to the edge of default than frustration with both Democrats — including President Obama — and Republicans that their side had not been tough enough.

The problem here is that nowhere in the story is there a hint that multiple public opinion polls show the public solidly in favor of compromise on a balanced approach to the national debt that would include tax hikes, and higher taxes on wealthy Americans.

The Pew Research Center recently reported:

Fully 68% say that lawmakers who share their views on this issue should compromise, even it means striking a deal they disagree with. Just 23% say lawmakers who share their views should stand by their principles, even if that leads to default.

So shouldn’t the article have stated quite clearly that those outspoken voters who attend these public meetings do not reflect the views of the broader public?

There’s the new Gallup poll which found 60% in favor of compromise by the new debt Supercommittee.

Standard and Poor’s downgrading of the U.S. credit rating on Friday, along with the generally downward movement of the stock market in recent weeks, may have reinforced Americans’ pre-existing preference for political compromise. Democrats (67%) are the most inclined to say the committee should seek compromise, but a majority of Republicans (55%) and independents (57%) agree.

Among the one in four Americans who identify themselves as “supporters of the Tea Party movement,” 53% would rather have lawmakers hold out for a plan they agree with, while 41% advocate compromise. Fourteen percent of Americans view themselves as strong Tea Party supporters, and 58% of this group (about 31% of all Republicans) takes the hard-line stance.

Increasing Taxes Leads Among Five Potential Approaches to Reduce Federal Debt

Asked about potential approaches the subcommittee may consider to reduce federal debt, a majority of Americans support increasing taxes on higher-income Americans, increasing tax revenues by making major changes to the current federal tax code, and cutting federal programs other than Medicare, Social Security, and defense. Less than half support the idea of cutting either defense spending or Medicare and Social Security costs as a way to reduce the deficit.

A new CNN poll found 62% of respondents agreed with this statement: “Taxes on wealthy people should be kept high so the government can use their money for programs to help lower-income people.”

This isn’t really a new turn in opinion. A CBS poll last month found:

Two thirds of Americans back the Obama administration position that a deal to increase the debt ceiling should include both spending cuts and tax increases, while just 28 percent back the Republican position of only spending cuts. Three in four say an agreement they do not fully support would be preferable to having the U.S. default on its debts.

A Pew Research Center poll released at the end of July found:

• 68% of Americans (including 53% of Republicans) say they want their Senator and Representative to compromise to reach a deal. 53% of Tea Party supporters oppose any compromise. Americans support a compromise even if they disagree with some elements of the final deal.

• 60% (including 46% of Republicans) say a combination of tax increases and spending cuts should be used to cut the deficit.

From an NBC/WSJ poll:

Strong majorities of Democrats and independents prefer that Democratic congressional leaders make compromises in this budget debate, while almost 70 percent of independents want Republican leaders to do the same. And nearly six in 10 favor President Barack Obama’s proposal to lower the federal deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years by cutting federal spending, raising tax revenue from the wealthy and reducing some Medicare spending.

By comparison, only about a third of respondents prefer the House Republican proposal to reduce the deficit by $2.5 trillion over 10 years through cutting spending alone and not raising additional revenues.

And a recent Rassmussen poll found: “Voters prefer a balanced approach candidate over a no new taxes candidate by a 56% to 34% margin.”